Windows 10 october update glitches

[tolbs17]

They should stop trying to update things i guess

[1995hoo]

But I'm not sure I want to bother with alternatives like Linux because of convenience reasons to do with work compatibility and the like.

I would suggest making a bootable CD of one of the major distros like Fedora or Ubuntu and trying to live out of it for a while to see how many compromises you have to make and whether it's viable. Compatibility is really not as bad as you might think, as long as you are willing to meet Linux halfway–that is, unless you have some reason you have to use a particular program, you can find a Linux-friendly replacement that can edit the same files. So while trying to running the latest Excel is probably going to cause problems, you can easily find a program that edits .xlsx files.

The real killer is finding device drivers for things like the scanner portion of all-in-one scanner/printer devices, which is not always guaranteed, so it's worth testing before committing to a change.

All of that might well work for me, depending of course on whether TurboTax is available for those alternate OSes, but what would you suggest I do for my mom? I can tell you with near-certainty that she probably wouldn't even be interested in adjusting to a Mac. Hers has to be a very straightforward setup; I also have to find out from her whether she still uses word processing software more than every once in a great while (reason: her current PC has WordPerfect for two reasons–she's comfortable with it because she's used various versions going back to 4.2 for DOS in 1987, and my father's office at the US government used WordPerfect at least until he retired–so if she wants to keep WordPerfect on the new one, that may constrain things). 

[J N Winkler]

Hers has to be a very straightforward setup; I also have to find out from her whether she still uses word processing software more than every once in a great while (reason: her current PC has WordPerfect for two reasons–she's comfortable with it because she's used various versions going back to 4.2 for DOS in 1987, and my father's office at the US government used WordPerfect at least until he retired–so if she wants to keep WordPerfect on the new one, that may constrain things).

I have done enough work providing tech support to members of my immediate family to realize that working around limited computer literacy is a human factors problem, not a technical problem.  WordPerfect is actually still developed (current version is X9, which came out about 15 months ago), but I suspect it would be more attractive to your mother to stick with her current version because she is familiar with the UI.  It will likely install, but may require some form of a compatibility mode if it is old enough.  This can be a tossup--on my current computer (purchased 2011), CorelDRAW version 9 (purchased 2000) would install but Microsoft Office SR-1 Professional (also purchased 2000) would not (I tried compatibility mode).

There is no installable version of TurboTax for Linux, though the online version can be used through a Web browser.

[D-Dey65]

Earlier this month, I got a pop-up window forcing another update on me, which gave me the option of updating it at the time, or a later date, or a third option, I forget what it was. But they weren't letting me get out of this, and so I randomly chose September 30, 2019.


That's two days from now, and I'm not going to have time to clear everything from my PC before they force this on me. I have to find a way to stop this one from being carried out too.

[KeithE4Phx]

Earlier this month, I got a pop-up window forcing another update on me, which gave me the option of updating it at the time, or a later date, or a third option, I forget what it was. But they weren't letting me get out of this, and so I randomly chose September 30, 2019.


That's two days from now, and I'm not going to have time to clear everything from my PC before they force this on me. I have to find a way to stop this one from being carried out too.

https://www.linuxmint.com/download.php  Works every time. 

[KeithE4Phx]

There is no installable version of TurboTax for Linux, though the online version can be used through a Web browser.

I've been using the online version of TaxAct for almost 15 years with no issues under Linux.  I would have to guess that TurboTax online would work just as well.

[Scott5114]

But I'm not sure I want to bother with alternatives like Linux because of convenience reasons to do with work compatibility and the like.

I would suggest making a bootable CD of one of the major distros like Fedora or Ubuntu and trying to live out of it for a while to see how many compromises you have to make and whether it's viable. Compatibility is really not as bad as you might think, as long as you are willing to meet Linux halfway–that is, unless you have some reason you have to use a particular program, you can find a Linux-friendly replacement that can edit the same files. So while trying to running the latest Excel is probably going to cause problems, you can easily find a program that edits .xlsx files.

The real killer is finding device drivers for things like the scanner portion of all-in-one scanner/printer devices, which is not always guaranteed, so it's worth testing before committing to a change.

All of that might well work for me, depending of course on whether TurboTax is available for those alternate OSes, but what would you suggest I do for my mom?

I dealt with this problem with my family members when I started to become the de facto unpaid IT guy by very firmly establishing that if I am to be  the sysadmin for them, they will have to use the software that I am comfortable with maintaining. If they didn't like the software environment I was providing, they could learn how to maintain their preferred software themselves, or find someone else to do it.

They found someone else to do it. Your mileage may vary on if this is considered a good outcome or not; for me, it was.

[D-Dey65]

I was going to start a new thread on the May 2020 Windows 10 Update glitches, using this link and others as a reference, but for some stupid reason my PC won't let me save links and post them anywhere.

[SectorZ]

I was going to start a new thread on the May 2020 Windows 10 Update glitches, using this link and others as a reference, but for some stupid reason my PC won't let me save links and post them anywhere.

Is it out already? If so, thanks for the warning.

[Scott5114]

My workplace applied some sort of Windows 10 update when we were closed for quarantine. Notepad has been patched to make Ctrl-Backspace actually delete the last word instead of inserting some kind of control character. About time.

[okc1]

Is Version 1909 the latest? Mine updated about 2 weeks ago, installing the Chrome-like Edge.

[US71]

I try to open a website and another one opens instead.

[Route66Fan]

Is Version 1909 the latest? Mine updated about 2 weeks ago, installing the Chrome-like Edge.

The current version is 2004, released on May 27, 2020.

[D-Dey65]

You know I've been struggling to keep the update away for so long I may just let it go tonight (weirdly enough Microsoft set yesterday for the date). If I get cut off from the AA Roads forum, at least I have my password in storage so I can get back on. Too bad I can't say the same for some of the other sites I'm signed onto.

[vdeane]

You know I've been struggling to keep the update away for so long I may just let it go tonight (weirdly enough Microsoft set yesterday for the date). If I get cut off from the AA Roads forum, at least I have my password in storage so I can get back on. Too bad I can't say the same for some of the other sites I'm signed onto.

I've heard that USB printers now only work if the printer was turned on when Windows was last booted up and that some users lost printing capability (even to a PDF) altogether.

Very glad I don't deal with Windows 10 outside of work.  These problems seem to keep happening more and more often.